The Book of Household Management
Chapter 190 : COMPOTE OF DAMSONS.1537. INGREDIENTS.--1 quart of damsons, 1 pint of syrup No. 1512._M

COMPOTE OF DAMSONS.

1537. INGREDIENTS.--1 quart of damsons, 1 pint of syrup No. 1512.

_Mode_.--Procure sound ripe damsons; pick the stalks from them, and put them into boiling syrup, made by recipe No. 1512. Simmer them gently until the fruit is tender, but not sufficiently soft to break; take them up, boil the syrup for 5 minutes; pour it over the damsons, and serve.

This should be sent to table in a gla.s.s dish.

_Time_.--About 1/4 hour to simmer the damsons; 5 minutes to boil the syrup.

_Average cost_, 9d.

_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ in September and October.

DAMSON JAM.

1538. INGREDIENTS.--Damsons; to every lb. of fruit allow 3/4 lb. of loaf sugar.

_Mode_.--Have the fruit gathered in dry weather; pick it over, and reject any that is at all blemished. Stone the damsons, weigh them, and to every lb. allow 3/4 lb. of loaf sugar. Put the fruit and sugar into a preserving-pan; keep stirring them gently until the sugar is dissolved, and carefully remove the sc.u.m as it rises. Boil the jam for about an hour, reckoning from the time it commences to simmer all over alike: it must be well stirred all the time, or it will be liable to burn and stick to the pan, which will cause the jam to have a very disagreeable flavour. When the jam looks firm, and the juice appears to set, it is done. Then take it off the fire, put into pots, cover it down, when quite cold, with oiled and egged papers, the same as in recipe No. 1530, and store it away in a dry place.

_Time_.--1 hour after the jam simmers all over.

_Average cost_, from 6d. to 8d. per lb. pot.

_Sufficient_.--1-1/2 pint of damsons for a lb. pot.

_Seasonable_.--Make this in September or October.

A VERY NICE PRESERVE OF DAMSONS.

1539. INGREDIENTS.--To every quart of damsons allow 1/2 lb. of loaf sugar.

_Mode_.--Put the damsons (which should be picked from the stalks and quite free from blemishes) into a jar, with pounded sugar sprinkled amongst them in the above proportion; tie the jar closely down, set it in a saucepan of cold water; bring it gradually to boil, and simmer gently until the damsons are soft, without being broken. Let them stand till cold; then strain the juice from them, boil it up well, strain it through a jelly-bag, and pour it over the fruit. Let it cool, cover with oiled papers, and the jars with tissue-paper brushed over on both sides with the white of an egg, and store away in a dry cool place.

_Time_.--About 3/4 hour to simmer the fruit after the water boils; 1/4 hour to boil the juice.

_Seasonable_.--Make this in September or October.

TO PRESERVE DAMSONS, OR ANY KIND OF PLUMS.

(_Useful in Winter_.)

1540. INGREDIENTS.--Damsons or plums; boiling water.

_Mode_.--Pick the fruit into clean dry stone jars, taking care to leave out all that are broken or blemished. When full, pour boiling water on the plums, until it stands one inch above the fruit; cut a piece of paper to fit the inside of the jar, over which pour melted mutton-suet; cover down with brown paper, and keep the jars in a dry cool place. When used, the suet should be removed, the water poured off, and the jelly at the bottom of the jar used and mixed with the fruit.

_Seasonable_ in September and October.

COMPOTE OF GREEN FIGS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: COMPoTE OF FIGS.]

1541. INGREDIENTS.--1 pint of syrup No. 1512, 1-1/2 pint of green figs, the rind of 1/2 lemon.

_Mode_.--Make a syrup by recipe No. 1512, boiling with it the lemon-rind, and carefully remove all the sc.u.m as it rises. Put in the figs, and simmer them very slowly until tender; dish them on a gla.s.s dish; reduce the syrup by boiling it quickly for 5 minutes; take out the lemon-peel, pour the syrup over the figs, and the compote, when cold, will be ready for table. A little port wine, or lemon-juice, added just before the figs are done, will be found an improvement.

_Time_.--2 to 3 hours to stew the figs.

_Average cost_, figs, 2s. to 3s. per dozen.

_Seasonable_ in August and September.

TO BOTTLE FRESH FRUIT.

(_Very useful in Winter_.)

I.

1542. INGREDIENTS.--Fresh fruits, such as currants, raspberries, cherries, gooseberries, plums of all kinds, damsons, &c.; wide-mouthed gla.s.s bottles, new corks to fit them tightly.

_Mode_.--Let the fruit be full grown, but not too ripe, and gathered in dry weather. Pick it off the stalks without bruising or breaking the skin, and reject any that is at all blemished: if gathered in the damp, or if the skins are cut at all, the fruit will mould. Have ready some _perfectly dry_ gla.s.s bottles, and some nice new soft corks or bungs; burn a match in each bottle, to exhaust the air, and quickly place the fruit in to be preserved; gently cork the bottles, and put them into a very cool oven, where let them remain until the fruit has shrunk away a fourth part. Then take the bottles out; _do not open them,_ but immediately beat the corks in tight, cut off the tops, and cover them with melted resin. If kept in a dry place, the fruit will remain good for months; and on this princ.i.p.ally depends the success of the preparation; for if stored away in a place that is in the least damp, the fruit will soon spoil.

_Time_.--From 5 to 6 hours in a very slow oven.

II.

1543. INGREDIENTS.--Any kind of fresh fruit, such as currants, cherries, gooseberries, all kinds of plums, &c.; wide-mouthed gla.s.s bottles, new corks to fit them tightly.

_Mode_.--The fruit must be full-grown, not too ripe, and gathered on a fine day. Let it be carefully picked and put into the bottles, which must be clean and perfectly dry. Tie over the tops of the bottles pieces of bladder; stand the bottles in a large pot, copper, or boiler, with cold water to reach to their necks; kindle a fire under, let the water boil, and as the bladders begin to rise and puff, p.r.i.c.k them. As soon as the water boils, extinguish the fire, and let the bottles remain where they are, to become cold. The next day remove the bladders, and strew over the fruit a thick layer of pounded sugar; fit the bottles with corks, and let each cork lie close at hand to its own bottle. Hold for a few moments, in the neck of the bottle, two or three lighted matches, and when they have filled the bottle neck with gas, and before they go out, remove them very quickly; instantly cork the bottle closely, and dip it in bottle cement.

_Time_.--Altogether about 8 hours.

TO BOTTLE FRESH FRUIT WITH SUGAR.

(_Very useful in Winter_.)

1544. INGREDIENTS.--Any kind of fresh fruit; to each quart bottle allow 1/4 lb. of pounded sugar.

_Mode_.--Let the fruit be gathered in dry weather. Pick it carefully, and drop it into _clean_ and _very dry_ quart gla.s.s bottles, sprinkling over it the above proportion of pounded sugar to each quart. Put the corks in the bottles, and place them in a copper of cold water up to their necks, with small hay-wisps round them, to prevent the bottles from knocking together. Light the fire under, bring the water gradually to boil, and let it simmer gently until the fruit in the bottles is reduced nearly one third. Extinguish the fire, _and let the bottles remain in the water until it is perfectly cold;_ then take them out, make the corks secure, and cover them with melted resin or wax.

_Time_.--About 1 hour from the time the water commences to boil.